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economics

17 public school teachers working in locations from Kildare to Kathmandu, Johannesburg to Oslo, tell us what they earned last month, and give us a sense of how they spent their salaries. Their responses show that it really doesn’t matter where you are — certain worries and goals are universal.

The economist Sir Paul Collier has spent his career thinking about how to solve global poverty. So how are we doing? Well, not as badly as you might think. He describes the current state of the world and shares thoughts on where we might usefully focus next.

One of the things that baffles mere mortals about the 2008 financial crisis is that no one seems to have been held accountable for what went on. Economics professor and former bank regulator William Black has some sobering thoughts on why that is — and what we might do about it.

This week’s numbers include the amount of change tossed into Rome’s Trevi Fountain each year (a lot), the number of Americans aged 18-34 who still live with their parents (too many), and the percentage of Americans who don’t believe in the Big Bang (gulp).

Chrystia Freeland writes about the power of money. As a journalist, she examines how money shapes society, impacts politics and essentially makes the world go ‘round. In today’s talk, given at TEDGlobal 2013, Freeland tackles the growing global plutocracy, looking at how 21st century democratic capitalism is making the rich richer while pulling […]